WESTERN BRANCH PRODUCTIONS


Brazilian Producer Plays Key Role In Hollywood Startrek Starfleet academy Production

Hollywood, California Captain Kirk, the crew of the USS ENTERPRISE, Pico Garcez of Sao Paulo, and Western Branch Productions of Hollywood, california, USA, have succeeded on a mission Hollywood insiders said was impossible. They have united the words of CD-ROM and Hollywood to create STAR TREK Starfleet Academy.

Garcez, serving as Associate Producer for Western Branch, is producing the live action segments of STAR TREK Starfleet Academy, the first and only STAR TREK flight simulation game that allows live actors to move about in a virtual cyberword through exciting new technology created by Garcez, the staff at Western Branch and the developers of the game, Interplay Productions.

The flight simulation game, wich will be available on CD-ROM for MS-DOS and Windows® 95 based PC’s, the Sony PlayStation, and from MacPlay for Power Mac, allows players to take the helm of the original USS ENTERPRISE and interact with their favorite STAR TREK characters including William Shatner as Captain Kirk, Walter Koeing as Chekhov and George Takei as Captain Sulu.

"What makes this cutting edge," said Garcez "is that the sets exist entirely in the cyberword of the computer. The actors work against blue or greens screens while the technicians composite the live action with the tree dimensional cyber sets.

"We have done away with motion control computers once needed to track shots and constantly calculate camera position. Now, with the new techniques we have developed, the technicians can pinpoint the real location of the camera within the tree dimensional cyber set and rotate the set around the actors, instead of repositioning the camera, as you would on a ral set.

"Conceptually, think of your favorite TV weatherman. Instead of just standing in front of his CGI generated weather map and pointing, he can now walk around inside it. We can splatter him with rain, have the sun shine on his face, or make the wind blow his hair.

The crew of 45 was chosen not only for their ability to interface with the staff at Interplay, who are an integral part of the day to day production.

For the first ever we are combining Holywood-style production techiniques with the CGI word," said Garcez. The project employs the talents of many STAR TREK and Hollywood notables and includes an original script penned STAR TREK: The Next generation writer Sandy Fries, STAR TREK novelist Diane Carey and sci-fi writers Dan reenberg, andrew Greenberg and Bill Bridges. The original musical score is by Dennis McCarthy, who composed the music for the Paramount television series STAR TREK: The Next Generation and STAR TREK: Deep Space Nine, make-up is by Michael Westmore whose STAR TREK credits includes the series STAR TREKl the Next Generation and STAR TREK: Deep Space Nine, STAR TREK: Voyager, and STAR TREK; First Contact.

In addition to associate producer Garcez, the international team assembled for the shoot includes British director Martin Denning, Chris Nibley, noted American cinematographer and special effects DP, and second unit director Stu berg, who has extensive directorial experience in film theater and commercials.

Pico Garcez and Western Branch Productions have worked together in the past both in the US and Brazil. Both Garcez and Western Branch specialize live-action and live action packaging for animation. Recent projects include a an action-adventure CD-ROM game for Interplay,: 60 live action spots for Save The children and FHP, plus; 30 spots for escent II, featuring Rodney Dangerfield.